In fraud at bank, sentences reduced for 2 ex-workers

The sentences of two women who admitted helping defraud First National Bank of Lawrence County in Walnut Ridge of $3.9 million were officially reduced Friday by six months each.

Amended judgment and commitment orders were filed for Brenda Montgomery, 57, a former teller, and Cindy Tate, also 57, a former head cashier at the family-operated bank, causing both women's sentences to be reduced from 57 months to 51 months in federal prison.

The adjustments were approved by U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker at the request of Assistant U.S. Attorney Angela Jegley, who conceded late last month that a co-defendant's attorney had caught a glitch between the penalty range contemplated in earlier plea negotiations and the penalty range calculated by probation officers during preparation of pre-sentence reports.

Tim Dudley, an attorney for co-defendant Peggy Sutton, 61, a former head teller, was able to immediately secure a 51-month sentence for Sutton, as a result of catching the glitch, but by that time, Montgomery and Tate had already been sentenced to 57 months in prison apiece.

Read more: http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2016/oct/09/in-fraud-at-bank-sentences-reduced-for--1/?latest